Detroit News: Detroit taps 18 groups to help long-term unemployed get back to work

“In the Jump Start Program, participants have a financial incentive to work hard and succeed, and so do the IDOs that are helping them along the way,” said Mayor Mike Duggan in a statement.

“We really believe that this approach will result in a lot of Detroiters who had stopped trying to find work getting onto a path to gainful employment that can sustain them. We are deeply appreciative to President Biden for create the ARPA program and making Jump Start possible.”

“Nobody has tried this,” Duggan said at a press conference Friday. “If we actually move 1,200 families from poverty and long-term unemployment to good-paying jobs where they can support a family, buy a house, how much different is this city? If we do that, I will deal with long-term funding. It is not going to be hard, but these 18 groups are going to have to prove we can do it.”

“If President Biden did have a favorite mayor, it would be Mayor Duggan,” said Gene Sperling, President Biden’s ARPA coordinator and senior adviser, adding it was a homecoming for him. “There are so many people who want to find economic security, economic stability and they just need a helping hand.” Sperling said the initiative “is a national model of how to deploy President Biden’s American Rescue Plan.” “The entire Detroit-At Work Adult Scholarship program is indeed one that President Biden has highlighted as one of the nation’s most innovative, pro-work strategies funded by the American Rescue Plan to build a larger, more skilled, and more inclusive workforce.”

Full story here:
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2023/01/27/city-of-detroit-jump-start-jobs-pilot-program-paid-by-arpa-funds/69840762007/